still here- alive and kicking

so still kicking- and trying to get this cellulitis under control.... after much agonizing about this the doc installed a PICC line see above. it is in my upper arm and it goes to the breast bone. and i will be getting vencomyicin iv for at least another 10 days. one more night in hospital and hopefully home tomorrow with drugs.

3rd annual chili cookoff a success

We had 6 different kinds of chili - and friendly competion for highly coveted golden Spoon Award. The 1st prize went to a co-worker's wife who made green chili !! The silver spoon went to another co-worker who chilli was outstanding and flavorful.

The third prize went to a co-worker who brought " drangon's breath" chili and knocked everyones sox off with it's flavor and spicy bite.

I sadly did not even win a prize this year, though technically I came in 4th... LOL but the competion was fierce - I have to say I already won a prize and recognition from my peers with a "JOLLY" award.

Spirit of PBS – a.k.a. “The JOLLY” (Not a cash award)
An enjoyable work environment helps to lift the spirits of the PBS staff. This award is intended to recognize the “little things” that people do that make PBS unique and a better place to work. Candidates for this award help to make the challenges of each day easier by demonstrating:

Appropriate use of humor to lighten difficult situations;
Positive outlook regardless of the challenge;
Cheerful disposition with an infectious smile or laugh;
Other unique examples experienced at PBS that helps lift the spirits of PBS staff.


JOLLY = Jovial Outlook, Loves Laughter, & Yummies!

Needing to get back to regular updates

Life has handed me a long list of to do's and at the end of the day I want to not do anymore.

But I have had a few great things that I haven't even covered here at all . 1st of all SSD2 has graduated!! unbelievable in some ways the best thing ever in others. He was wonderfully composed and did well through a long ceremony at Red Rocks amphitheater. He did not get the actual paper diploma, as he will be continuing to receive services from Jefferson county transitional services - this program geared to help him transition to bus riding and making his way to his Job ( he is employed one day a week!) I don't know if we ever dared to dream this type of good stuff would happen.

While we celebrated with SSD2, S' mom joined us with her friend PJ- for all the good stuff, she sprang for the best gift ever - a family photo- all of us and some of us and groups of us had pictures taken. We love them and will post up a few here as well as send hard copies to all the folks who will enjoy having the paper version as well as the digital version.

J has finally Made it too ! I am so proud he persevered and got his actual diploma and now has his Driver's licence too! it was a joy to have all the boys together in our photo and he is so handsome and sweet he agreed to do it for me. I love that kid - he turned 19 on may 30th too. unreal where the time has gone I will never know.

Hh is getting ready for high school - yikes hard to believe that we will be doing all kinds of things with her ( she was accepted to the PAH- program ) a performing arts and humanities studies inside her high school program. She has expresses a desire to go out for Softball, and we are spending some time and money outfitting the girl for the summer and beyond.

MIA

I have had one busy month.

at work we are in " open enrollment" the laws and plans and knowledge needs my full attention for the whole period, not to mention that I do a volunteer scout service at this time of the year too.

What you may ask yourself? I volunteer to handpaint bottle caps for webelos weekend. how many you may inquire? wel how about 600 or so...... Yikes what am I thinking? well it doesn't leave me much time for anything else.

So here I am a day away from teh END of open enrollment, a few days past completing my scout duty ( task) . My house is clean- my mother-in-law is in the house! SSD2 is Graduating from high school- I can't make this stuff up - I am ready for some R&R-

way to go grace!

Grace needed to be my middle name, not Ann!~!! LOL !@#!~~
Today at lunch. i had a salad, yeah me! but.... as i put on the dressing, i put the lid back on and was going to give the whole thing a shake and well what do you know the lid was NOT really on very well.
Good thing I am in the office mostly by myself and the ladies room is not far. Good thing I have on a cami under my shirt. I ended up taking it OFF and washing it with soap and water, wringing it and heading back in the office ( Door closed) turned on a fan and set it on a chair in the sun, it is almost dry again and I think I maight be o.k. for my presentation this afternoon.
!@$~&^% crisis averted!!!

busing it

This is the routes in Boulder for the RTD at the stop I go home from ! Theses shots were taken on Monday night, waiting for the 4:45 bus home :) the temps were in the single digits and the snow was so dry and fluffy you could just bush it away- almost blow and it would have disappeared.

this is the street corner that I cross in the evening to catch the going home bus. the light is not very long there in the direction we cross, but it is still nice to have a stop light.

this is looking toward my building and the flat irons, I love the mountain view and when the hills are covered in snow

more crafty things

All of my team has these note boards on our office doors- they have 3m sticky stuff on top and white board on the bottom.

in febuary- I send out my round of valentine cards and I wanted to do something fun and nice for my co-workers in my office. Well I made a little tage these are about the size of a Mini Pearl price tag and made of the same white card and white cotton string. Well I made the 1st of a whole tradition in the makeing and then one said you could do one a month with a theme and the idea just took off. each of my co-workers gets a tag on their door display each month and everyone looks forward to the little tiny reminder to smile.

so Fab was hearts and valentine, march was the shamrock, april is the rain showers, may was the flowers- in pots, June was the beach, july the red white an blue stars theme, august was the sun shine, September was back to school, october is the pumpkins on black tags, november is the leaf shaped tags and December the christmas trees!

I am recognized by my Peers today

Professional Resources. Quality Service. Educated Decisions.

That is our tag line at Benefits at the University of Colorado- payroll and benefit services



Today I was recognized by my Peers as a Person who delivers " Quality Service" - I came in second, but still got a 50$ gift card - woot !!! It is nice to know people think highly of me, and I do a job I really enjoy at a place I enjoy.



I follow a bunch of Happiness project people and work happy bloggers and today this Made my happy at work list for sure

colorado fall foilage

neighbor to the east of our home ( backyard) has a really pretty tree- though you might like it too.

I am on my way to Colorado Springs and Planning for retirement presentations tomorrow at the University of Colorado - UCCS - should be good, hoping for a good turn out - but we did not mail advertise this year. only e-mail blasts and campus news items.

this is national retirement planning week and new limits for 401k and tax defered programs should be set soon for the upcoming calander year. Will update here in a few days.

Happy at work action day

Take action to be happier at work- from Karl of the same type of paost last monday.....

Many people have been letting me know that doing all four elements of the Happy at Work Action Day will feel forced. I suggest picking two and making that your mission today.

4 Rules to Happiness at Work Action Day

1. Celebrate! (i.e.Throw an office party.)
2. Reward a deserving co-worker or client.
3. Reward yourself for a recent accomplishment.
4. Take 5 minutes to reflect on the crazy beauty in your life.

Check out his blog for great suggestions- not just action today!

#4- The crazy beauty of my life right now is the amount of things that will need to be done in October. Work has been super busy- and will continue to be through the end of the month.
Hh is in the middle of prep-cycle that will be everyweekend this month, plus additional weekdays and extra stuff, her homework is loaded up as well, she is stressing out. I just want to veg. and not so a thing.... I will need to wait until november! - but then we will have a few days off right at the end of november- so I will set my sights there and try to live in the present and take care of the now, with a wish for a future little relief.

Monday morning

Karl at work happy now - blog is blogging about what we CAN do- to help ourseves be happier at work.

I am going to take these to heart and start a new monday morning program....

If you go into work with a question such as, “how can I improve my happiness?” You are focusing your mind on finding a positive answer.

Here are some of the questions I ask myself every Monday…

1. What is one thing I can enjoy about each person that I come into contact with today?
2. What is the most important thing I need to do today?
3. Who can use a compliment today?
4. How can I make someone laugh?
5. Where can I optimize my strengths?
6. When my motivation dips, how can I stimulate myself to take action?
7. Who needs my help today?
8. What three people do I need to support to improve my work relationships?
9. Who can teach me a valuable skill to improve my job?
10. Am I being my true self at work?
11. What is one task or routine that I can eliminate?
12. What is the best part of my job?
13. Why am I good at my job?
14. What would be my ultimate job? And am I building towards it?
15. Who is my role model at work?
16. What can I do to become more engaged with my work?
17. What matters most to me at my job?
18. How can I lead the people around me to improve their happiness?
19. When I’m stressed out, how do I cope with these feelings?
20. Why do I assume I know what my coworkers are thinking?
21. How can I make my work more fulfilling?

The fritz-

S- has the computers on the fritz- email is not working going in or out at the moment from the crandalls dot org domain. So bear with us if you are used to making contact with me or Him by that method.

hopefully he will get it figured out soon.

We are having a very bleary day over the flatirons in Boulder Today- it looks like winter, it rained like crazy- this is the worst wetest weather I can remember in the " summertime" in a very long time. we have had more than our fair share of wet weather and rain and hail.

wishing for a bit of chilli - or soup for Dinner.